The next global crisis: Hungry millions, on the move

Scarcities of water, land, oil and fish could lead to mass starvation in 50 years – or sooner. Why is the West refusing to swallow the facts?

Floods in Pakistan, droughts in Russia, rising grain prices. According to award-winning Australian science writer Julian Cribb, these are warning signs of an impending disaster that will dwarf the financial crisis.

In his new book The Coming Famine: The Global Food Crisis and What We Can Do To Avoid It, he warns that looming scarcities of water, land, nutrients, oil and fish will leave us unable to feed ourselves within 50 years.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Mr. Cribb addresses the implications of the Western diet, the threat to cities and what impact famine could have on immigration.